Global Report on Cultural Policies: Focus on UIS Data and Analysis

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14/12/2017

Re-Shaping Cultural Policies

A new UNESCO global report on cultural policies features a range of data and analysis produced by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS).

Entitled Re-Shaping Cultural Policies, the report is designed to monitor the implementation of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and how it helps to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

The flow of cultural goods is a key issue addressed by the report, with the UIS providing a range of data, analysis and chapter on cultural trade and employment as well as the cinema sector. According to UIS data, global exports of cultural goods were worth US$ 253 billion in 2014. UIS data also show that nearly half of the people working in the cultural and creative industries are women, opening up new opportunities to address gender inequalities.

Key findings from the UIS include:

All developing countries (including China and India) represented an increasing portion of the flow of cultural goods, and accounted for 45% of global trade of cultural goods in 2014, compared to 25% in 2005.

Trade barriers, scarcity of preferential treatment measures and limited human and financial capacity continue to hamper the penetration by developing countries of cultural good markets in the global North.

Digital distribution platforms, exchange networks, and export strategies, mostly in the audiovisual sector, are helping global South countries enter the international market of cultural goods and services.

Domestic quotas are an effective measure to increase national audiovisual production, eventually leading to an increase in exports.

The new digital environment urgently requires improved data collection on cultural trade services, in order to support evidence-based policies and trade negotiations.